Last month, around January 26, farmers in Etrigny and Culles-les-Roches found dead animals in their meadows in the morning. 8 sheep and 11 young rams had been killed on two farms 11 km apart.
Three days later, it was in Charolais that a similar scene occurred: four sheep killed in Palinges as well as a sheep and a ram found dead 10 km further on in Volesvres.
Enough to make breeders fear the return of a wolf in Saône-et-Loire just a few months after the slaughter of the animal which had raged from the beginning of summer 2020 to the month of November, on an axis going from the south from Charolles north of Montceau-les-Mines. A wolf which had made a total of between 150 and 200 victims in the sheep herd.
In the four municipalities affected by the January attacks, experts from the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) began investigations the day after the attacks.
“Wolf not excluded”
The statements were forwarded to the OFB regional expert, who concluded that the wolf thesis could not be ruled out in Saône-et-Loire.
However, in the absence of DNA and image material (photo traps have been set but have not given anything for the moment), it is today impossible to say that it is indeed a wolf who took a bite. the ewes of Culles-les-Roches, Etrigny, Volesvres and Palinges. But this conclusion “wolf not excluded” already allows to set up the compensation procedure for breeders.
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“To date, there is no formal proof that it is a wolf, it could just as well be the work of another large canine, such as a stray dog”, takes care to remind Jean- Pierre Goron, Director of Territories in Saône-et-Loire.
The same culprit?
Another question: can the same animal be the author of the 4 attacks? “We can not answer today with certainty” warns the boss of DDT 71.
It is very probable that the attacks of Culles and Etrigny had the same perpetrator. Same for Volesvres and Palinges. On the other hand, “the probability is less” that it was the same animal that plagued the Tournugeois and then the Charolais. “Even if we know that a wolf can travel 40 to 50 km a day, the probability that it is the same author remains extremely low,” says Jean-Pierre Goron. “But there is no material evidence to date. which allows the presence of a wolf in Saône-et-Loire to be accredited again. “
Whether the culprit is a dog (or more) or a wolf, breeders want to hang on to good news: since January 29, no new attack has been reported in Saône-et-Loire.
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